Saturday, August 24, 2013

(Plymouth, England)- Competitors are gearing up for an exciting B&G
J-Cup 2013, scheduled to take place in Plymouth this week- August 21st
to 24th. The event returns to the Royal Western Yacht Club in Queen
Anne’s Battery Marina for the first time in six years, and comprises the
Lombard J/97 UK National Championships and the Lifedge J/109 UK
National Championships. The J/105s, J/70s and J/111s will be racing one
design, the latter two classes building on the momentum of racing one
design at Cowes Week this month, a first for both boats. The remainder
of the fleet will race in mixed IRC J Boat classes.

Racing
starts on Thursday 22nd August and nowhere will the competition be
hotter than at the Lifedge UK J/109 National Championships, which
currently has an impressive twenty-one entries. A number of the J/109s
who finished the Rolex Fastnet race towards the end of last week will
undoubtedly have used the weekend to recharge and regroup ahead of their
UK Nationals at the J-Cup. It was the team on Steven Tapper ’s Stalker
who finished at the top of the podium in 2012, never having to count a
score outside the top seven across the eight races sailed. Jonathan
Calascione and Johnnie Goodwin’s Harlequin took silver, Mike and Sarah
Wallis took the bronze in Jahmali, Paul Griffith’s Jagerbomb was fourth
overall and Tony Dicken’s Jubilee finished fifth.

The
Lombard J/97 UK National Championships will no doubt see some fine
sailing, particularly as the J/97 is enjoying a strong run of national
successes so far this year. Fresh from winning the title of overall
winner at the Scottish Series, Iain Laidlaw’s J/97 Jaywalker has now
been awarded best performance at West Highland Yachting Week, an event
which attracted 100 boats. 2013 marks the third successive year a J/97
has won the Scottish Series title, with sisterships also securing class
wins recently at Plymouth Race Week, the IRC Nationals, Cowes Week and
Falmouth Week.

The J/111 Class has five boats racing on a level rating basis at the
J-Cup this year, three of which enjoyed champagne sailing conditions in
the J/111 Class at Cowes Week. David and Kirsty Apthorp’s J-Dream will
be fighting off the competition to retain their title from 2012.

In
usual J-Cup style we’re set for a massive event: six classes, eight
races inside and out of the breakwater, two National Championships, an
anticipated 50 boat entry, 400 sailors, live entertainment every night,
fantastic sponsor support from B&G and Fusion, prizes galore
including North Sails daily prizes, vouchers from Lifedge, RS Divers and
Grapefruit Graphics, bags and clothing from SLAM, Lombard and Harken,
plus extra goodies from Peters & May and Ocean Safety, and of course
the infamous J-Cup Prize-giving Party on the final Saturday, this year
to be held at the spectacular National Marine Aquarium, where the
winners will be presented with some beautiful locally made trophies
sponsored by Fastnet Insurance. A live blog from the race-track can be
found at the event website.

Title sponsor B&G will also be providing some special prizes on the
final night. Alan Davis, Product Line Director for B&G said: “We are
delighted to be supporting the J-Cup 2013, it promises to offer fast
and exciting racing, and is one of the highlights of the UK racing
calendar. The B&G team is particularly looking forward to meeting
the competitors, working with Key Yachting and being an integral part of
this fantastic regatta.” Sailing photo credits- Tim Wright For more J/Cup Regatta sailing information